Dark-haired American-born actress who went to finishing school in Arundel, England. After dancing in London nightclubs, she spent her apprenticeship on stage (e.g., "The Little Earthquake" in 1933, as a cockney maid) and in minor British films. She made her Hollywood debut in
Bolero (1934) and was thereafter typecast as damsels in distress, opposite horror stars
Bela Lugosi,
Boris Karloff, and
Peter Lorre. Paramount changed her name to Frances Drake because her birth name, Frances Dean, was too similar to that of one of their stars,
Frances Dee.